The Family of Blood (TV story)
The Family of Blood 'is the ninth episode of the third series of ''Doctor Who. It was written by Paul Cornell, directed by Charles Palmer and featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones. Overview To be added Synopsis His cover exposed, the Doctor's life is now a hunt of necessity. However, with his consciousness still concealed inside a missing Fob Watch, Martha is now left to protect as many people as she can until she can bring the Doctor back, but the unfortunate John Smith, a living fiction, is overwhelmed by his destiny and cannot bear the idea of losing himself to become the last, lonely Time Lord again. Elsewhere, the Family decide the only way to draw the Doctor out of hiding is to bomb the civilian population. It's a matter of survival for everybody and every life rests on the shoulders of the one man who can stop them... but he doesn't want to. Plot While Baines and his cohorts, now the Family of Blood, await John Smith's choice on their ultimatum, Latimer opens the Doctor's fob watch, giving a distraction enough for Martha to swipe the gun on her and hold Jenny, now Mother of Mine, at gunpoint herself. The rest of the family lower their arms and Martha instructs Smith to get everybody out. He tries to instruct Latimer to warn the school but the boy just says he's as bad as the family and runs off. Martha releases Mother of Mine and keeps the gun on the others, backing up until she is grabbed and disarmed by a scarecrow soldier but manages to get away. Martha grabs Smith and Redfern as the flee from the hall while the Family fires on the escaping people; Father of Mine is sent to the west using Jenny's memories to find what Martha was hiding there. Smith, Redfern and Martha make it back to the school and raise the alarm, calling all the boys into action and warn Headmaster Rocastle that Baines, Clarke, Jenny and Cartwright have gone beserk and murdered people. Unable to convince Smith not to put the boys in the line of fire, Martha goes to his office to find the watch. Meanwhile, Latimer hides, the Doctor's voice echoing in his head warning him of the approach of Daughter of Mine. Rocastle goes outside to confront Son and Mother of Mine; Son of Mine tells him of the coming great war in 1914 and murders the teacher Phillips as a warning of demands he brings Smith out to them, who had been watching from a window. Rocastle orders all able-bodied boys and men into action to defend against the coming attack. Outside, Son of Mine calls forth all of his scarecrow soldiers ready to advance on the school; Daughter of Mine contacts them from inside and insists they hold back. In Smith's office, Martha insists on finding the watch and proves her claim of being from the future but Redfern just leaves to help the boys. Meanwhile, Father of Mine finds the TARDIS in hiding, blocking off the Doctor's escape. At the school, Redfern starts developing doubts following Martha's claims and Smith is put off that she's starting to think that he isn't real but goes to join the boy's fight. Outside, Latimer tells Hutchinson of the vision he saw and runs off to serve the purpose he found the watch for. Daughter of Mine finds him harbouring the watch and distracts her with the contents of the watch, but also alerting the Family to it's existence and Son of Mine orders the attack to begin. The scarecrows break down the gates and the boys open fire on their enemy, crying with every shot. When the firing stops, the Headmaster looks at the fallen creatures, to reveal them to be nothing but animated straw men. Cartwright comes inside the gate and the Rocastle offers her sanctuary, but Daughter of Mine kills him and Smith orders all the boys retreat into the school. The Family invade the school and look for Latimer who lures them upstairs with the watch before they can kill anyone. Smith, Redfern and Martha retreat to the outskirts of the school where they see Father of Mine and two scarecrows guarding the TARDIS, trying to lure the Doctor out. When Redfern mentions his dreams of a blue box, Smith breaks down in tears, believing that he is now just a story and runs off. As the Family heads off to their ship to prepare of bombardment, Smith, Martha and Redfern huddle in the Cartwright residence. With the house abandoned, they deem themselves safe for the meanwhile. Smith offers to go to the Family to prevent any more deaths before demanding to know what Martha does for the Doctor. Outside, Latimer arrives at the house with the watch. When presented with it, Smith refuses to hold it but ultimately takes it and flashes of the Doctor manifest in Smith's behaviour. Suddenly, explosions start going over the village and Smith realises that the Doctor never planned to remain as him and had Martha stay with him to extensively execute him. Smith then ponders the possibility of giving them the watch as an alternative but Redfern claims that would make the family unstoppable; she sends Martha and Tim outside while she comforts a sobbing Smith. Using the watch, Smith and Redfern get glimpses of a life they could have together and once they've seen it, Smith makes his decision. On the ship, the Family continue their bombardment when Smith stumbles aboard and offers them the watch if they stop the bombing and leave. The Family take the watch from Smith and throw him around the control room; as they open the watch to receive the lives of the Time Lord, it's empty. The Family are confused by Son of Mine throws the watch back to Smith, who reveals that he had already become the Doctor again before he even arrived, disguising himself long enough to serve as a reason to subtly set the ship to explode. As a final warning, he runs out of the ship and the family follows him, getting far enough away to avoid death. However, in a voice-over, Son of Mine explains why the Doctor had hidden from them, as an act of kindness. In a montage over the voiceover, the Doctor seals the Father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star, dropped the Mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy for eternal imprisonment, trapped the Sister inside every mirror in the universe (visiting her at least once a year) and suspended the Son in time, dressing him up as a scarecrow and leaving him there forever. After his punishments are given, the Doctor returns to Redfern and offers a chance for them to start again as he is now, but she just accuses him of being responsible of everything that's happened by bringing the Family here and sends him away, breaking down in tears with Smith's journal in her arms after he's gone. He finds Martha waiting for him outside the TARDIS and Latimer approaches them; as they say their goodbyes, the Doctor gives him the watch, knowing that it'll serve him in the future. As they dematerialise, the year passes and Latimer's vision comes to pass; he and Hutchinson move across the desolate front line of the Great War. Latimer looks at the watch and the time he saw in his vision comes and, as he looks up, he pulls Hutchinson and himself clear of the bomb. Afterwards, he carries Hutchinson all the way to safety. Years later, in 2008, an elderly Latimer sits, wheelchair-bound at a incant on Remembrance Day when he looks over the road and sees the Doctor and Martha, exactly the same, looking back at him from afar. He smiles and looks wistfully down at the watch that saved his life... Cast * The Doctor - David Tennant * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman * Joan Redfern - Jessica Hynes * Jenny - Rebekah Staton * Tim Latimer - Thomas Sangster * Baines - Harry Lloyd * Hutchinson - Tom Palmer * Clark - Gerard Horan * Lucy Cartwright - Lauren Wilson * Rocastle - Pip Torrens * Phillips - Matthew White * Vicar - Sophie Turner Crew To be added References To be added Story Notes To be added Continuity To be added Home video and audio releases To be added External Links * Official ''The Family of Blood'' page on '''Doctor Who Website